Charlie
Charlie is the main protagonist in Perks Of Being Wallflower. Through the course of the novel, he narrates the story by writing a series of letters to an anonymous person. In the film, he is portrayed by http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevy_Chase%7CLogan Lerman Personality Charlie is a loner, who begins the novel as a freshman and enters high school not knowing anyone. Through his letters to his anonymous recipient, he's shown to be very observant as he watches people and analyzes them. He has quite an imagination, living in his own head and trying to figure out life. History Early life Charlie was born on December 24, 1976 to his married parents (referred to as Mom and Dad) and is the youngest child, after his older brother and sister. When his Aunt Helen was alive, she lived with Charlie and his family for a few years until her death. His Aunt Helen used to give him books to read, even though they were "too old for him", but Charlie enjoyed them enough that his dad shrugged it off. Charlie was a very curious child and often asked what the "bad thing" was that happened to his Aunt Helen that led her to live with them. When he was seven years old, he stopped asking after his Aunt Helen started crying. Charlie was punished with a slap from his dad and was sent to his room, crying. It wasn't until much later that his mom told Charlie what happened to his Aunt Helen. Middle School One day, the principal announced over the PA system that his best friend, Michael, had passed away. He attended sessions with the guidance counselor to help deal with Michael's death. During a session, the guidance counselor suggested that maybe Michael had no one to talk to and felt alone, and Charlie proceeded to cry and scream, saying that he could have talked to him. They were unable to control him and had to call his older brother to pick him up. From that day on for the rest of the school year, the teachers have treated him differently; they gave him better grades, even though Charlie observed that he didn't get any smarter. He suspects that it was because they felt nervous around him. At home, Charlie noticed that his family left him alone because he started getting straight A's in school. High School Charlie starts high school as a freshman and continues to cope with Michael's suicide. When his relationship becomes stronger with Patrick and the others, he takes a turn for the worst and lets the priest give him LSD, he tripps balls and then makes an angel in the snow because he is having flasbacks of his mother. Relationships Family Charlie's family is portrayed as somewhat dysfunctional yet very loving and strong at the same time. Charlie's older brother, who is in college, is a international football hopeful. He is recognized by many in his old high school as a true leader due to leading the school's team to nationals and so on. Charlie's relationship with his brother is close as Charlie mentions throughout the book how he cannot wait for his brother to come home numerous times. Charlie's sister attends high school with Charlie as a senior. She has long dark hair with fair skin and is notably very pretty (though she doesn't see herself that way and calls herself fat many times). She is known to be dating pony tail Derick (as told by Patrick) but is soon forced to breakup with him by her parents because he hit her and Charlie witnessed it. She secretly dates him until she decides to go stag with her girlfriends to senior prom. Her relationship with Charlie in the begining of the novel is distant. However, through the book she learns to understand Charlie more, and Charlie understands how to respect her and her privacy more. Charlie's father is quite distant from Charllie as most of his attention is turned towards his eldest son due to his football dreams and sister as she is just about to graduate highschool and go to college. Although, they seem to have some inside jokes and good times when they are alone. Charlie's mother is not mentioned in the book much. However, from her brief inclusions was that was loving, as well as worried about Charlie's anxiety and depression issues. There is also Charlie's Aunt Helen who passed away in a car accident on the night of Charlie's 7th birthday. Charlie portrays Helen as an extremly loving and caring woman. However, later in the book we learn that she was actually an extremely disturbed woman who routinely molested Charlie - explaining his social awkwardness, breakdowns and supressed memories. Friends Charlie befriends Patrick and Sam, two seniors (who are also step brother and step sister). He crushes on for Sam the entire book. In the beginning, Sam tells Charlie "not to think of her like that." Charlie then dates Mary Elizabeth but get frustrated because Sam told him not to interrupt Mary Elizabeth while she is talking, but Mary Elizabeth never allows Charlie to interject his own opinions. One night, Sam, Craig, Mary Elizabeth, Patrick, and Charlie are playing truth or dare. Charlie is told to kiss the prettiest girl in the room and kisses Sam. Mary Elizabeth breaks up with him. Everyone is mad at Charlie for awhile but in the end they forgive him. Later, when Brad breaks up with Patrick, Charlie helps Patrick cope. Sam and Charlie almost have a sexual encounter, but he stops it because it brings back a bad memory of his Aunt Helen molesting him. He remains friends with everyone. Trivia *"Charlie" is the alias of the narrator in the novel. Category:Characters Category:Movie Characters Category:Book Characters